BROCKTON, Mass. (WHDH) -- Four people were trapped on the top floor balcony of a multi-family house as their home went up in flames early Sunday morning.

Most people inside were asleep.

“She ran outside because there was smoke,” Cookie Camacho, the daughter of one of the fire victims, said. “Smoke was already going in the building."

“I seen the flames on this side of the house over here and then I panicked,” Tracy Pete, a neighbor, said.

Everyone on the first two floors got out within minutes but the stairs were blocked for people on the top floor. They ran out to the balcony and waited for a ladder truck to arrive.

“They were rescued fairly quickly,” Brockton Fire Captain Robert McGrann said. “Brought them down. They were checked right away and weren’t injured.”

The fire was contained to the first and second floor apartments on one half of the building, but because there was smoke damage throughout and the power has been cut off, no one in the seven apartments was being allowed back inside.

Fire officials say the fire started on the first floor but the exact cause was still under investigation Monday morning. One firefighter injured his ankle while inside the home.

Seventeen people including a 2-year-old have been displaced; officials say there’s no telling when or if they will be able to return.